Drug testing policies may need to be revised

If you have a policy that requires drug testing after a workplace accident or injury, you may need to change it as a result of new rules issued by OSHA.

The new rules generally require that companies have a reporting procedure in place for work-related injuries and illnesses, and prohibit them from discouraging workers from reporting injuries. The catch is that, according to OSHA, a policy that requires drug testing after a workplace accident could discourage workers from reporting accidents in the first place.

To be clear, OSHA is not saying that you can never give a drug test after a mishap. But to justify a test, two things must be true:

There must be a reasonable chance that drug use was actually the cause of the injury or accident. So a drug test wouldn’t be okay if an employee reports a repetitive strain injury, for instance, or if an accident was due to an equipment malfunction.

The drug test you use must be able to determine if the employee is impaired right now. A drug test that can only show whether an employee was impaired at some point in the recent past isn’t good enough.

It’s a wise idea to review any drug testing policy you have in place and make sure it complies with the new rules.